North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong Un, who held a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and then embarked on an inspection tour of the Far East region, arrived at the small town of Artom in Primorsky Krai. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu is accompanying him and is expected to visit nearby military facilities.
On the 16th, Kim's exclusive train arrived at Artom-1 Station around 8 to 9 a.m. local time.
North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un (center) is visiting the 'Yuri Gagarin' factory in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, on the 15th (local time). [Image source=AP Yonhap News]
Afterwards, Kim Jong Un transferred to a limousine loaded on the train and is reported to visit military facilities in Artom or nearby areas.
About 15 km from Artom, there is an airbase housing the 22nd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Russian Aerospace Forces. In the nearby small town of Bolshoy Kamen, there is the Zvezda Shipyard, a specialized facility for the repair and modernization of nuclear-powered submarines.
Defense Minister Shoigu is also known to accompany Kim Jong Un's schedule on this day. Major foreign media reported that Shoigu visited the Zvezda Shipyard the day before to inspect the facilities and processes in advance.
The day before, Kim Jong Un visited the Yuri Gagarin factory in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, an industrial city in Khabarovsk Krai. He observed the assembly processes of advanced Russian fighter jets and new passenger aircraft and also witnessed test flights of fighter jets.
Meanwhile, according to the flight tracking site Flightradar24, at around 11:10 a.m. local time on the same day, North Korean Air Koryo flight JS623 arrived at Vladivostok International Airport in Primorsky Krai. The aircraft is an Antonov AN-148 model from Ukraine, which is the plane Kim Jong Un primarily uses. The purpose of this flight is unknown.
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